Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves

by Jesse Bering

Overview

For much of his thirties, Jesse Bering thought he was probably going to kill himself. He was a successful psychologist and writer, with books to his name and bylines in major magazines. But none of that mattered. The impulse to take his own life remained. At times it felt all but inescapable.
 
Bering survived. And in addition to relief, the fading of his suicidal thoughts brought curiosity. Where had they come from? Would they return? Is the suicidal impulse found in other animals? Or is our vulnerability to suicide a uniquely human evolutionary development? In Suicidal, Bering answers all these questions and more, taking us through the science and psychology of suicide, revealing its cognitive secrets and the subtle tricks our minds play on us when we’re easy emotional prey. Scientific studies, personal stories, and remarkable cross-species comparisons come together to help readers critically analyze their own doomsday thoughts while gaining broad insight into a problem that, tragically, will most likely touch all of us at some point in our lives. But while the subject is certainly a heavy one, Bering’s touch is light. Having been through this himself, he knows that sometimes the most effective response to our darkest moments is a gentle humor, one that, while not denying the seriousness of suffering, at the same time acknowledges our complicated, flawed, and yet precious existence.
 
Authoritative, accessible, personal, profound—there’s never been a book on suicide like this. It will help you understand yourself and your loved ones, and it will change the way you think about this most vexing of human problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226463322
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jesse Bering is a science writer, research psychologist, and head of the Science Communication program at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He is the author of The Belief Instinct: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life; Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? And Other Reflections on Being Human; Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us; and Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves, which was published by the University of Chicago Press. His writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Discover, The Guardian, The New Republic, The New York Times, Playboy, Scientific American, The Telegraph, Slate, Vice, and other outlets. He currently writes a weekly column for the French magazine Le Point.  

Table of Contents

1 The Call to Oblivion

2 Unlike the Scorpion Girt by Fire

3 Betting Odds

4 Hacking the Suicidal Mind

5 The Things She Told Lorraine

6 To Log Off This Mortal Coil

7 What Doesn’t Die

8 Gray Matter

Acknowledgments
Resources
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Jesse Bering is the best science writer at work today."
 

Dan Savage

"By the time you finish reading these sentences someone in the world will have committed suicide. Why do more than a million people a year kill themselves? To answer this question we need a brilliant research scientist, an insightful psychologist, and a sensitive but powerful writer who has seriously contemplated taking their own life. Jesse Bering fits all three criteria and the book you hold in your hands is a deeply moving narrative that cuts to the heart of the ultimate question any of us could ever ask: why should I live? Given what’s at stake in the topic, Suicidal may very well be the most important book you will ever read."

Michael Shermer

"I have yet to come away from reading one of [Bering's] essays and not feel considerably better informed than I was just minutes before."

Forbes

"He weaves together personal stories, delves into whether nonhuman animals die by suicide, and examines the relation of religion and self-killing. These angles offer a critical perspective on a devastating problem."
 

Scientific American

"What undergirds Bering's inquiry is the belief that locating the psychological blunders that lead to suicide can help, in time, to curb their prevalence."

New Yorker

2018-08-13

A coherent, relevant look at the psychological secrets of suicide.

"The catchall mental illness explanation only takes us so far," writes science writer Bering (Science Communication/Univ. of Otago, New Zealand; Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us, 2013, etc.) in this fascinating study featuring some startling real-time facts and perspectives on a sadly enduring phenomenon. The author lays bare the possible root causes and outward complications when someone with periodic depression or a fleetingly sporadic compulsion ends their life. For such a fiercely complex subject with varying nuances, viewpoints, and interpretations, Bering imparts accessible information through an affable, conversational tone. Supplementing his research material are chapters detailing the author's own private struggle. Bering, 43, openly admits to being haunted by suicidal feelings. Being outed as gay in his teens and then weathering chronic employment and career burnout as an adult continued to push "those despairing buttons." The author probes ethics and rationales, the mysteries of animal suicides, the opposing viewpoints on "suicidal thinking," and the daunting task of loved ones and forensic investigators to re-create what victims felt prior to committing the act since the "why" often proves just as harrowing as the "how." Bering also shares stories of families ripped apart by suicide as they struggle to reconnect through the haze of devastating emotional pain. Bering concedes that having dark impulses is more commonplace than people would like to believe, and he highlights theories held by neuropsychiatrists and suicidologists who have isolated a specific neuron possibly responsible for suicidal intent. He also analyzes less esoteric, more "common currents" while openly admitting that his own suicidal ideation "flares up like a sore tooth at the whims of bad fortune, subsides for a while, yet always threatens to throb again." This important book arms readers with contemporary insight to help "short-circuit the powerful impetus to die when things look calamitous."

Bering illuminates a murky, misunderstood human quandary with compassion, confessional honesty, and academic perception.

Kirkus Reviews

"The book interweaves disciplinary, literary, historical, media, personal and sensationalist sources. . . . the resulting amalgam brilliantly succeeds at providing both an accessible and an earnest account."

Allegra Lab

"In Suicidal, Jesse Bering explores one of the most essential questions we all face: Why keep living? He doesn't claim to have found any easy answers, but his exploration is surprising, funny, touching, and deeply personal. Suicidal feels like a gift, and reading it reminded me that encounters with great books are reason enough, for now, to keep going."

Christopher Ryan

"What undergirds Bering's inquiry is the belief that locating the psychological blunders that lead to suicide can help, in time, to curb their prevalence."

New Yorker

"Suicide is one of the toughest subjects to write about, and psychologist Jesse Bering does it with candor, scientific integrity and genuine empathy in Suicidal. . . .  The book itself is a testament to the human spirit. Researching and writing the book, he says, was a way to combat suicidal ideation and give his own life a renewed sense of purpose. . . . Suicidal is a vital book—informative, engaging, and enlightening despite its dark subject matter."

Shelf Awareness

"I'm not surprised that a book on suicide would be very personal, but I didn’t expect it to be so damn funny. It's also engaging, thoughtful, and sensitive—although Bering is certainly irreverent, there is a real appreciation of how painful and difficult this topic can be. This is a book for scholars and for a general audience, but it is also entirely suitable for people whose lives have been touched by the suicide of someone they loved."

Paul Bloom